Horowitz Law

Bios

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  Adam Horowitz

  Managing Partner / Sexual Abuse Lawyer

  National Sexual Abuse Attorney Adam Horowitz has 25+ years of experience securing justice and accountability for survivors. Wherever there is a client seeking to heal from sexual abuse and trauma, no challenge or obstacle is too great. Adam Horowitz is a knowledgeable and zealous lawyer with a concentration in sexual abuse cases, dedicated to representing his clients with compassion. Known among his peers as an aggressive and passionate advocate, Adam Horowitz can help you or your family member navigate the complexities of healing from sexual abuse and getting civil justice. With a proven track record in securing justice for survivors and achieving landmark results, Adam has a demonstrated commitment to providing the support and legal expertise you need to reclaim your life. Adam Horowitz has represented hundreds of sexual abuse survivors across the United States in lawsuits against a wide range of entities, including churches, private schools, daycare facilities, massage businesses, medical practices, youth organizations, Boy Scouts of America, cruise lines, rideshare companies, and high-profile individuals (including Jeffrey Epstein). Since 2000, Adam Horowitz has been at the forefront of exposing the Catholic Church’s clergy abuse scandal by litigating dozens of priest molestation cases against Catholic Dioceses throughout the country. His work resulted in countless predators being exposed and “confidential” church documents being made public. Moreover, he achieved victories in critical battles, including the statute of limitations and First Amendment in these cases. In 2018, Adam Horowitz and his colleagues obtained a record-setting jury verdict of over seventy million dollars on behalf of a young woman who was raped by an intoxicated co-worker while on a luxury yacht in Fort Lauderdale. Adam has also been a leading national advocate for clients sexually abused by massage therapists at Massage Envy and other spa locations. In so doing, he gained significant acclaim for exposing the rampant sexual abuse of female clients in the massage industry. In 2009, Adam Horowitz was named South Florida’s Most Effective Lawyer in the category of personal injury by the Daily Business Review for his groundbreaking work in sexual abuse litigation. Adam prevailed at trial in federal court against the United States government on behalf of a young Native American woman raped by a U.S. Army recruiter. In that pivotal case, Elk v. United States, 87 Fed. Cl. 70 (2009), Adam established a new precedent for Native Americans by using the “Bad Man Clause” of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 to recover pain and suffering damages for the first time in the Treaty’s 140 year existence. Adam is no stranger to high-profile legal battles. He has tried numerous cases to jury verdict resulting in multi-million dollar awards for sexual abuse victims. As an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, Adam has made countless television appearances and has been quoted extensively on the subject of sexual abuse and exploitation in media outlets, including CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel, Jacksonville Times-Union, NBC6 Miami, Buzzfeed, Newark Star Ledger, and Pueblo Chieftain. He has been prominently quoted in the national media for his legal work exposing Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of girls in Palm Beach County, where he subpoenaed and recovered Jeffrey Epstein's famed address book. Adam has achieved the AV® PreeminentTM Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. This is the highest possible rating available for attorneys and demonstrates outstanding achievement, legal ability, and professional ethics. His client and peers consistently rank him at the highest level of professional excellence. He is also recognized as a Top Attorney and Rising Star by South Florida Super Lawyer Magazine and has achieved a perfect 10.0 client rating from Avvo. In 2024, victim advocates presented Adam Horowitz the Legacy of Justice award for his groundbreaking work on behalf of sexual abuse survivors in and out of the courtroom. Adam is admitted to the Florida Bar (2000); U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida (2001); U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida (2001); U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (2004); U.S. Tax Court (2005); U.S. Court of Federal Claims (2006); U.S. District Court, District of Colorado (2009); and U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit (2009). He has been admitted pro hac vice in many states, including Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington D.C. Adam received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law in 2000. During law school, Adam was an editor of the University of Miami Law Review and served on the Moot Court Board. Adam received his Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of Miami.

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  Link: Adam Horowitz

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  Jessica Arbour

  Trial Attorney (Of Counsel) / Sexual Abuse Attorney

  For more than 20 years, Jessica Arbour has been a dedicated and compassionate advocate for survivors of sexual abuse nationwide. Jessica Arbour joined Horowitz Law as of counsel in 2018, bringing two decades of experience as an attorney and paralegal to our team. She has been a colleague of Adam Horowitz, Horowitz Law’s managing partner, for nearly as long. They continue to work together as a skilled and effective team for survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation across the country. Together, Adam and Jessica have handled cases of clergy sexual abuse in Florida and nationwide. In 2010, the two obtained a landmark decision in a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Little Rock by a woman sexually exploited by her parish priest, a known serial predator of vulnerable adult women in the Little Rock area. The Diocese asserted that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution barred the plaintiff’s lawsuit because it would infringe upon the Free Exercise of Religion clause to allow the Diocese to be sued. A loss would mean that no survivor of clergy sexual abuse could ever seek justice in Arkansas Courts. But Adam and Jessica persevered, and in a lengthy written decision, they won the nuanced legal argument and eventually obtained a significant settlement for their client. They have had similar successes fighting other legal arguments intended to close our courthouses to survivors of abuse, including the statute of limitations and attempts to keep damning information about the Church’s coverup of sexual abuse from the general public. In 2021, Jessica won a critical motion to compel the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania to turn over confidential documents relating to nearly 90 priests accused of sexual misconduct since the early 1960s. Many of the priests were identified in the landmark Grand Jury Report published in August 2018, including the alleged perpetrator in the underlying case, Fr. Joseph Meighan. (John Doe 103 v. Diocese of Scranton, Lackawanna County, case no. 20 CV 2938). In 2022, amidst contentious litigation, Bishop Frank Dewane of the Diocese of Venice refused to sit for deposition to answer for his employment decisions regarding a problematic priest who was eventually accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, Fr. Neil McLoughlin. Bishop Dewane’s legal team argued that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution prevented Jessica from taking the deposition of the perpetrator’s only supervisor. However, Jessica prevailed upon the highly nuanced legal argument once again, and the Court ordered Bishop Dewane to sit for deposition. (L.B. v. Diocese of Venice in Florida, Inc., et al., case no. 2019 CA 005300 NC, Sarasota County, 2022 WL 2954154). Jessica and Adam were among the first to sue disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein following his arrest by Palm Beach Police in 2006 for sexually abusing and trafficking children at his Palm Beach, Florida, home. In 2011, Jessica was part of a two-lawyer team that obtained a $100 million verdict against one of the Archdiocese of Miami’s most notorious and prolific predator priests, Fr. Neil Doherty. It was the largest verdict in the State of Florida and the eighteenth largest in the country that year. Jessica, an Avvo-rated attorney, has repeatedly been named a SuperLawyers Rising Star in both Florida and Illinois. She has also been nominated for the American Bar Association’s Child Advocacy Award. Her work is regularly featured in the international media. Over the years, Jessica’s clients have often remarked on the patience and compassion she shows them throughout one of the hardest times of their lives. Helping clients obtain some measure of justice and accountability means far more to her than any awards or accolades ever could. Prior to attending law school, Jessica worked as a paralegal in one of the nation’s top firms for clergy sexual abuse survivors. In that position, she frequently deployed for long-term assignments in Northern California, Chicago, and across the country, handling everything from massive written discovery projects, the review of hundreds of priest personnel files, and the preparation and coordination of the depositions of some of the most important leaders of the Catholic Church. Since becoming an attorney more than a decade ago, Jessica has herself deposed some of the highest-ranking officials in America’s Catholic Church. Jessica has also worked as an associate attorney in one of Florida’s largest law firms, handling matters of negligent security, wrongful death, and employment discrimination. During that employment, she tried several complex matters to a jury and prevailed in each one. Jessica graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2009. She attended the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts. Jessica is licensed to practice before the state courts of Florida (2009) and Illinois (2014).

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  Link: Jessica Arbour